Honeydew production and honeydew sugar composition of polyphagous black bean aphid, Aphis fabae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on various host plants and implications for ant-attendance

Keywords. Aphids, summer host, winter host, honeydew, melezitose, ant-attendance

Abstract. The black bean aphid, Aphis fabae, is polyphagous and its life cycle involves seasonal migration between summer and winter host plants. The aphids are regularly tended by honeydew-collecting ants. This study investigates whether differences exist in honeydew production and honeydew sugar composition for A. fabae subspecies feeding on various host plants and whether such differences reflect differences in the intensity of ant-atttendance (Lasius niger).

A. f. fabae feeding on the…